Hey, it's good to be back home again...
It was a long road home... but I made it! Got into the Houghton Co. Airport last night, so glad to see Mark waiting there for me! I had sent an entry to my blog from an airport internet connection (was it Miami? Minneapolis? hard to say...all a blur!), but I don't see it showing up anywhere here. Hmmm.
When someone in Ecuador suggested that I might want to check my flight connection in Miami before leaving, I didn't even understand what their concern was. I hadn't heard any news broadcasts since I left the States, and didn't even know about the hurricane devastation in Florida! So I went online to Northwest Airlines, and discovered that my flight was CANCELLED due to airport conditions! I then checked my flight from Ecuador to Miami (Lacsa Airlines/Taca Group), and they advised me that my reservation was confirmed and they were indeed flying into Miami that day -- though they hadn't been the day before! OK, nothing to do but assume flights were resuming to some degree in Miami, and deal with it when I got there, since I couldn't call Northwest from Ecuador.
I arrived in Miami late in the evening of the 27th, with my (cancelled) flight having been scheduled to go out at 7:35 the next morning. But when I arrived at MIA, all the Northwest ticket counters were closed and dark. I was so tired and exhausted, and had no other choice but to find a place where others were apparently in the same predicament (and maybe already stranded there for days, for all I knew!), and try to catch some shut-eye. I was thankful for the wool poncho I'd bought in Otavalo, as the airport got quite chilly that night. So with my sweatshirt balled up for a pillow, and my poncho pulled out of my suitcase and used for a blanket, I snuggled on the barely carpeted cement floor with my luggage and had about 6 hours of fitful sleep. We were all like refugees in a strange land, bonded by our situation, all speaking different languages! The elderly couple sleeping in shifts next to me, though somewhat fluent in English, had French accents (I think). I also heard Spanish, Nigerian, and what have you. I just kept close to my bags and tried to make the best of the situation -- what good would it do to whine and complain anyway?
When the Northwest ticket counters opened between 6 and 7, I ended up getting a flight out at 2:15 p.m. on the 28th, with a plane change in Detroit (and barely enough time to make the connection), and another change in Minneapolis (with several hours between flights). I finally rolled into the Houghton County Airport about 12:20 a.m.
I learned, too, that there's another hurricane -- this time targetting Central America (Nicaragua and Costa Rica). What's going on here? I leave Miami for S. America, and as soon as I pass through they get hit with Hurricane Wilma. On my way home, I switch planes in Costa Rica, apparently just missing the next hurricane (Betta?) coming through there! Guess my trip could have been even more "adventuresome," had travel been a day or two later at either end of my journey! Thankfully, I had all the adventure I could stand!
It's great to be back home, and so wonderful to be with my U.S. family again! Thanks so much to all of you who've added your comments along my journey's way -- SO much appreciated!
Photos and more to follow, after I get settled back in here a little bit... Love to all!
When someone in Ecuador suggested that I might want to check my flight connection in Miami before leaving, I didn't even understand what their concern was. I hadn't heard any news broadcasts since I left the States, and didn't even know about the hurricane devastation in Florida! So I went online to Northwest Airlines, and discovered that my flight was CANCELLED due to airport conditions! I then checked my flight from Ecuador to Miami (Lacsa Airlines/Taca Group), and they advised me that my reservation was confirmed and they were indeed flying into Miami that day -- though they hadn't been the day before! OK, nothing to do but assume flights were resuming to some degree in Miami, and deal with it when I got there, since I couldn't call Northwest from Ecuador.
I arrived in Miami late in the evening of the 27th, with my (cancelled) flight having been scheduled to go out at 7:35 the next morning. But when I arrived at MIA, all the Northwest ticket counters were closed and dark. I was so tired and exhausted, and had no other choice but to find a place where others were apparently in the same predicament (and maybe already stranded there for days, for all I knew!), and try to catch some shut-eye. I was thankful for the wool poncho I'd bought in Otavalo, as the airport got quite chilly that night. So with my sweatshirt balled up for a pillow, and my poncho pulled out of my suitcase and used for a blanket, I snuggled on the barely carpeted cement floor with my luggage and had about 6 hours of fitful sleep. We were all like refugees in a strange land, bonded by our situation, all speaking different languages! The elderly couple sleeping in shifts next to me, though somewhat fluent in English, had French accents (I think). I also heard Spanish, Nigerian, and what have you. I just kept close to my bags and tried to make the best of the situation -- what good would it do to whine and complain anyway?
When the Northwest ticket counters opened between 6 and 7, I ended up getting a flight out at 2:15 p.m. on the 28th, with a plane change in Detroit (and barely enough time to make the connection), and another change in Minneapolis (with several hours between flights). I finally rolled into the Houghton County Airport about 12:20 a.m.
I learned, too, that there's another hurricane -- this time targetting Central America (Nicaragua and Costa Rica). What's going on here? I leave Miami for S. America, and as soon as I pass through they get hit with Hurricane Wilma. On my way home, I switch planes in Costa Rica, apparently just missing the next hurricane (Betta?) coming through there! Guess my trip could have been even more "adventuresome," had travel been a day or two later at either end of my journey! Thankfully, I had all the adventure I could stand!
It's great to be back home, and so wonderful to be with my U.S. family again! Thanks so much to all of you who've added your comments along my journey's way -- SO much appreciated!
Photos and more to follow, after I get settled back in here a little bit... Love to all!
posted by darylann | 1:10 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home